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Elections to the European Parliament 2009

Information for EU Citizens who Wish to Stand as Candidates in the European Elections in the Territory of the Czech Republic

The European Parliament elections on the territory of the Czech Republic are governed by Act No. 62/2003 Coll., on Elections to the European Parliament, as amended (hereinafter the "Act“).

When will the European Parliament elections take place in the Czech Republic? (Article 3 of the Act)

In the Czech Republic, the European Parliament elections will take place on June 5th and 6th, 2009. On June 5th, 2009 (Friday), polling stations will open from 14:00 to 22:00, on June 6th, 2009 (Saturday) from 8:00 to 14:00.

Who can stand as a candidate in the EP elections in the Czech Republic? (Article 6 of the Act)

Any citizen of the Czech Republic and any citizen of another EU member state may stand to be elected a member of the European Parliament provided he/she:

Is at least 21 years old as of the second pooling day

Was not deprived of his/her legal capacity

Citizens of other EU member states shall also meet the following conditions:

Not being deprived of his/her right to be elected in the state of which he/she is a citizen

Being registered in the citizens' registry for at least 45 days as of the second pooling day (i.e. at least from April 22, 2009).

A citizen of another EU member state holding a temporary residence permit or a permanent residence ID to reside in the territory of the Czech Republic is registered in the register of citizens.

Applications for a temporary residence permit should be submitted to the relevant Alien Police Inspectorate and applications for a permanent residence ID shall be sent to the Department of Asylum and Migration, Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic (for more information please contact the Alien Police at 00420 974 841 356 or 00420 974 841 357, email: infoscpp@mvcr.cz).

A citizen of another EU member state will be registered in the register of citizens after having received a temporary residence permit or a permanent residence ID.

Who is authorised to submit candidate lists? (Article 21 of the Act)

Any political party or movement, including any coalition thereof, registered at the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic in keeping with Act No. 424/1991 Coll., on association in political parties and political movements, activities of which have not been suspended, may submit a candidate list for the EP elections. In order to be registered, every candidate list submitted by a coalition must be clearly marked as a coalition candidate list by all associated political parties and movements and must bear the name of such coalition and the names of all its members.

Each political party, movement, or coalition may only submit one candidate list.

Political parties or movements submitting their own separate candidate lists cannot form a coalition with other political parties or movements. Each political party and movement may be associated in one coalition only.

A candidate may be entered on one candidate list only.

Candidate lists of political parties, movements, and their coalitions may list candidates who are members of other political parties or movements, or have no party affiliation. Membership in a political party is not mandatory for Czech citizens or citizens of other EU member states standing in the EP elections.

When, where and how are candidate lists submitted? (Article 21.3 of the Act)

Authorised representatives of political parties, movements, or coalitions shall submit candidate lists no later than 66 days before the election date, i.e. by 16:00 hours on March 31st, 2009 to the Ministry of Interior (náměstí Hrdinů, 4, Prague 4).

Additional candidates may be added and the order of candidates on the candidate list may be changed by 16:00 hours on April 6th, 2009.

What are the particulars of a candidate list? (Article 22.1 of the Act)

Each candidate list shall include:

The name of the political party, movement or coalition presenting it and – if it is being presented by a coalition – the forming political parties or movements;

First name and surname of each candidate, his/her date of birth and sex, the municipality of his/her permanent address (for citizens of another member state the municipality of residence), name of the political party or movement of which he/she is a member or a statement that the candidate is without party affiliation;

The candidate’s position on the candidate list in Arabic numerals;

First name and surname of the representative of the political party, movement or coalition concerned and his/her permanent address (place of residence for citizens of other EU member states). It is recommended for the representative to also include his/her address, telephone number, and Email address. The same information shall be provided about proxies, where applicable;

For coalition candidates – the name of the political party or movement proposing a coalition candidate;

Signature of the representative of the political party, movement or coalition concerned;

First name, surname, position and signature of the person authorised to act on behalf of the political party or movement concerned; for coalitions - first names, surnames, positions and signatures of persons authorised to act on behalf of the political parties and movements forming the coalition.

One candidate list shall contain a maximum of 29 candidates.

What shall be attached to candidate lists? (Article 22.2 and 22.3 of the Act)

Proof of a deposit of CZK 15 000 (election costs contribution). The contribution shall be deposited to a special account kept by the Ministry of Interior in the Czech National Bank. The Ministry of Interior shall establish the said account no later than March 25th, 2009. The account number will be posted on the official board of the Ministry of Interior in the seat of the National electoral committee (náměstí Hrdinů 3, Prague 4) and available electronically at the www.mvcr.cz;

A proof of each candidate's citizenship,

Candidates who are Czech citizens will submit the citizenship certificate or its notarized copy or come in person to the Ministry of Interior, which registers the candidate lists, and submit their ID or passport. The responsible official will make a copy of the ID or passport and verify the required data.

Candidates who are citizens of other EU countries will submit a document which is accepted by their country of citizenship as a proof of citizenship and which is, for the purpose of its use in the Czech Republic, authorized (unless stipulated otherwise by an international treaty the Czech Republic is bound by) and translated (by a sworn translator) to Czech; A candidate may also come in person to the Ministry of Interior, which registers the candidate lists, and submit his/her ID or passport. The responsible official will make a copy of the ID or passport and verify the required data.

Written statement signed in his/her own hand in which he/she agrees to stand as a candidate and in which he/she declares that he/she is not aware of any disqualifying circumstances or that any and all existing disqualifying circumstances will pass as of the date of elections and that he/she has not agreed to be featured in any candidate list for the elections to the European Parliament in another member state. He/she must also state his/her permanent address or – if he/she is a citizen of another member state – his/her place of residence and his/her date of birth; The statement may be executed in Czech or in English, French, or German,

Citizens of another member state standing in EP elections shall also add the address of the electoral district in their native member state or another member state in which they previously stayed and in whose electoral evidence they are still included. They shall also enclose a certificate issued by the relevant authority of his/her native member state confirming that he/she is not legally disqualified to be elected in his/her native member state or stating that the authority is not aware of any such disqualification (see List of authorities in individual EU member qualified to issue this certificate (pdf, 117 kB)).

For a sample candidate list for the EP elections and the candidate's statement (for a Czech citizen and for a citizen of another EU member state) see Annex No. 1 of Regulation No. 409/2003 Coll., on the implementation of Act No. 62/2003 Coll., on Elections to the European Parliament as amended (see Sample candidate list and Sample candidate's statement) (pdf, 43 kB)

How does consideration and registration of candidate lists work? (Article 23 of the Act)

The Ministry of Interior shall consider all submitted candidate lists during a period starting 66 and ending 60 days before the elections (i.e. from March 31st to April 6th, 2009). Should a candidate list be in violation of Article 21 of the Act or fail to contain information specified in Article 22 of the Act or bear incorrect data, the Ministry of Interior shall ask the political party, movement or coalition concerned, through its representative and no later than 58 days before the date of elections (i.e. by April 8th, 2009) to amend the candidate list (no later than 50 days before the date of elections, i.e. by April 16th, 2009). The same time limit shall apply to any corrections carried out by a party/movement/coalition representative without the Ministry’s request.

No later than 48 days before the day of election (i.e. by April 18th, 2009), the Ministry of Interior shall decide:

To register candidate lists which meet all requirements stipulated by the Act,

To delete candidate(s) from the list should the responsible political party, movement, or coalition fail to remove faults concerning that candidate(s) within the given deadline,

To reject all candidate lists not submitted in compliance with the Act, not bearing the information required by the Act, and not corrected in pursuance to the Ministerial request or by deleting a candidate in question.

The Ministry will send its decision to the subject empowered to seek a judicial remedy, and simultaneously publish such decision at its website www.mvcr.cz, and place it on the official board in the Ministry's building (náměstí Hrdinů 3, Prague 4) – the seat of the National election committee indicating the date of publication. The decision shall be deemed duly notified on the third day following its publication.

A political party, movement, or coalition may appeal the decision to delete a candidate from an election list. The candidate himself also has the right to appeal. Political parties, movements, or coalitions may file a motion to cancel registration of an election list. Remedies may be sought no later than 2 days after notification of the decision. The responsible court is the Supreme Administrative Court.

Based on a court's decision, the Ministry of Interior will register candidate lists even after expiration of the above time limit, but no later than 20 days before the election day (i.e. May 16th, 2009).

When and how can a candidate withdraw or resign? (Article 24 of the Act)

Any candidate may resign from a candidate list by means of a written resignation delivered to the Ministry of the Interior at least 48 hours before the date of the election (i.e. by 14:00 hours on June 3rd, 2009). Any political party, movement or coalition may also withdraw its nomination of any candidate through its authorised representative in the same way. Such motion can not be withdrawn.